How many bicycles do you need in your life? For 67-year-old Chai Lin, the answer is 1,300 and counting.
Chai’s passion for bicycles dates back to the 1960s when he saw some people riding the two-wheeled vehicle in his home city of Lanzhou, capital of north-west China’s Gansu Province. However, in that era, a bicycle was still a luxury for ordinary Chinese. To get enough money sooner, Chai made use of his talent in calligraphy and painting—a skill he started to learn from six years old—by selling artworks on the street. Thanks to all the efforts and “crowd-funding” in his family, Chai got his first bike in 1980.
After becoming a businessman years later and earning enough to buy fancy motorbikes and cars, Chai’s passion for bikes, however, didn’t dwindle at all. He began to collect bikes of various brands and ages, especially antiques, from around the world through auctions and other ways.
With his collection growing, there was no space big enough to keep it. In 2009, with the support of the Gansu provincial government, he invested 200 million yuan for a museum just for his bikes.
After 10 years’efforts, the Gansu Sanmu Bicycle Museum, located in Chengguan District of Lanzhou, finally opened to the public in January 2019 free of charge.
The museum has been designated as an off-campus research centre for local primary and middle school students and is also popular with tourists. In the first half of this year alone, it received more than 900,000 tourists. Due to limited space,a large part of Chai’s collection is not yet exhibited and has to be stored in the warehouse, driving him to improve the museum.
“Bikes carry unique and precious memories of our generation. I hope to expand the scale of the displaying area of the museum and provide a comfortable ‘home’ for my bikes,” he said.
4. What’s the main idea of the second paragraph?
A.Chai has a talent for calligraphy and painting. |
B.Chai knew the skill of life when he was very young. |
C.Chai has a unique love for bicycles more than others. |
D.Chai managed to get his first bicycle through all efforts. |
5. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “dwindle” in the third paragraph?
A.Exist. | B.Decrease. | C.Strengthen. | D.Develop. |
6. How does the author develop the text?
A.By giving examples. | B.By giving data. |
C.By comparison with others. | D.By the order of time. |
7. What will be continued to describe next?
A.Chai will make more speeches in various occasions. |
B.Chai will expand the museum to treasure the memory of bikes. |
C.Chai’s Bicycle Museum will be open to visitors from the world. |
D.Chai’s Bicycle Museum will display all collections in the warehouse. |